Toe calk for horseshoes



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fl v v I Invenhar a w. F. PITCHER TOE CALK FOR HORSESHOES Dec. 30, 1924.

Filed Jan. 11, 1924 Patented Dec. 30, 1924.

WALTER FRANKLIN PITCHER, 0F JOLIET, ILLINOIS.

TOE CALK FOR HORSESI-IOES.

Application filed January 11, 1924. Serial No. 685,619.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVALTER FRANKLIN Prrornan, a citizen ofthe UnitedStates of America, and a resident of the city of Joliet, in the countyof i/Vill, in the State of I11 inois, United States of America,have-invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toe Calks forHorseshoes, of which the following is the specification.

My invention relates to improvements in toe-calks for horseshoe withparticular reference to calks of the removable type as opposed to thecalk which is welded onto the shoe forming an integral part thereof, andthe object of the invention is to provide an improved form of removabletoe-calk which will be more rigidly secured upon the shoe than thoseformerly used and in which there will be no possibility of the calkturning or twisting out of its true position with respect to the shoe; afurther object is to insure a more secure footing for the horse thanhitherto; and a still further object is to provide a calk in which therewill be less liability of the horse straining the tendons of its ankleas often happens with the type of removable calk now used.

My invention consists essentially of a removable toe-calk having a bladeand a plurality of' shanks carried thereby and extending upwardlytherefrom, the calk be ing mounted. upon the horseshoe by the engagementof the aforesaid shanks within orifices in the shoe, all as hereinaftermore particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying drawingsin which 2-- Fig. 1 is a plan view of a horseshoe having my inventionapplied thereto;

F i 2 is a front elevation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view, to an enlarged scale, of one form inwhich my improved toe-calk may be made;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a section taken similarly to Fig. 5 but showing a modifiedconstruction.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the different views.

1 is an ordinary horseshoe which is pro vided with tapered orifices 2 atthe front thereof.

3 indicates my improved toe-calk which comprises a blade 4 to which aresecured the shanks 5.

The lower ends of these shanks are bifurcated at 6 to provide jawsadapted to engagetheblade.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 3,4 and 5,theblade is pro PATENT OFF-ICE.

vided with elongated slots 7extending therer through, the purpose ofwhich will presently appear. The upper ends of the shanks 5, are taperedat 8.- r

. Inthe modified form of the. invention shownin Fig.6 the slots.7are'omitted and the blade is provided with a raised portion or bead 9.

The construction and operation of my invention is as follows.

Referring to the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 3, 4, and 5,the shanks 5 are heated and while in this state are placed in positionupon the blade and the lower bifurcated portion is pressed tightlytogether so as to firmly grip the blade, in which operation a portion ofthe metal of the shank is forced into the slot 7 (see at A in Fig. 5).This engagement of the metal of the shank within the slot 7 serves topositively secure the shank upon the blade and prevent axial movement ofthe shank.

The toe-calk is mounted upon the. shoe by simply inserting the shanks 8within the orifices 2 and, since the shanks are tapered at 8 tocorrespond with the tapered orifices 2, a secure mounting is assured.

In the modified construction illustrated in Fig. 6, the shank is heatedas above described and pressed into engagement with the blade in whichoperation the bead 9v of I V the blade embeds itself in the metal of theshank thus serving the same purpose as the engagement of the metalwithin the slots 7 as above described.

In order to facilitate the fitting of the shanks might be shiftedlongitudinally of the blade.

In the making of my toe-calks the shanks being of separate metal fro-mthe blade may be made of softer steel. This is an important featuresince when'the blade is made of suflicient hardness, if the shank is ofthe same material it -is so brittle that it is very liable to break.

These disadvantages are entirely v. over come in my construction sinceowing to the plurality of shanks carried by a single cal'k it isimpossible for the call: to twister shift out of its proper positionupon the shoe, and also since the calk comprises one long bladeextending across the front of the shoe there is no possibility of thehorses toot being thrown oi lth'e proper level and this great length ofblade affords the horse a very secure footing.

While I have illustrated and described a speci fic "embodiment of myinvention, it is to understood that this fillgll-t be considevabtyaltered as regards details Without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the-scope ofthecla-im. For instance various otherequivalent methods of attaching the calk tothe blade might be used. Alsoother methods of .pern'iitting alteration ofthe distance between theshanks. This could be obtained by simply bending the blades slightlywhen attaching -the call: upon the shoe. 7

hat I claim as my invention is:

A removable toe-call; for horseshoes, comprising a blade, a plurality ofshanks, the lower ends of said shanks bifurcated and adapted to grip theupper edge of the blade, means coacting between the blade and shanks forpreventing movement of the shanks axially, and rnean's permittingadjustment of the distance between the shanks.

WVAIJTER FRANKLIN PTTCHER. lVitnesses JoH'N G. HAYavn-nn, NoRrUN Go-Lns.

